


How to Build a Family

by Anonymouskeeper



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Cameos by BTS, Cameos by GOT7 - Freeform, Cameos by Seventeen, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, High School, Humor, Middle School, One Shot Collection, POV Outsider, University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymouskeeper/pseuds/Anonymouskeeper
Summary: Sometimes a group of friends could become family. That’s what they had become - all twenty-three of them. As they navigated through life and school, they helped and supported each other where necessary, through the bad times and the good.A One-shot collection of NCT in an alternate universe, where the group of brothers, cousins and friends come together to support each other through whatever life throws at them.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun & Na Jaemin, Kim Doyoung & Lee Jeno & Jung Sungchan, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee & Suh Youngho | Johnny, Moon Taeil & Kim Jungwoo & Park Jisung, Nakamoto Yuta & Osaki Shotaro, Qian Kun & Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	1. The cafè

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone :)
> 
> This is a new collection of one shots, and my first time setting them in an entirely alternate universe setting. I hope the various relationships and things aren’t too confusing, as I have tried to explain them in the first couple of chapters that will be posted. The relationships tagged will also hopefully help; they’re all the members that are either brothers or cousins in this AU, precisely which should become clear as they appear. I have also tried my best to make it easy to understand where everyone is in the schooling system; Jisung is in his last year of middle school and the other members go up in grades/years as they get older. I have based this on what google could tell me of the Korean schooling system, but the schools themselves are made up and I have no idea what it is actually like. I have taken advantage of artistic license in how the schools run, although I’ve tried to make it realistic, too. 
> 
> This is largely just snapshots of the daily life of the members as they navigate through university/school. They are unconnected and although I’ll try and post them in at least vaguely chronological order, I make no promises, cause that’s not how I write them. It should, again, be obvious if the chapter is set before the last one or a lot later etc. and I’ll try and remember to write a little note saying so at the beginning of the chapters. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new collection, please let me know what you think in the comments :)

Taeyong sighed, looking down at his notebook and trying not to cry in frustration. The library was usually a good place to study in quiet, but it seemed a rather large study group had discovered the small cluster of tables towards the back that very few people seemed to realise existed and were disturbing him with their constant chatter.

His phone buzzed just as he was going to give in and bang his head against desk. Maybe that would catch their attention and they'd quiet down.

 _Cafe in 20?_ Doyoung had texted their largest group chat.

Taeyong smiled as his phone buzzed at least seven times in succession, affirmatives coming through and people saying how long they'd be.

 _Be there in 15._ He sent himself, already packing his books in his bag. He was glad of the reprieve and it would be good to see most of his friends again. The cafe was one of the only places big enough to hold all of them, and they knew both the owners and the workers well enough that their rowdiness could be excused. As he exited the library, smiling at the security guard slumped behind the desk, Taeyong thought - not quite wistfully - of the days his group of friends didn't have to think strategically about where to meet, when there was only a handful of them and occasionally their younger brothers. Taeyong has known Doyoung since middle school, even though they were a year apart, and for nearly as long they've been dragging their brothers after them. Jeno and Donghyuck were close friends, although their personalities often clashed. The addition of Jaehyun - and with him, Jaemin - a year later had balanced out both friendships. He'd met Taeil the same year as Doyoung, when Taeyong had applied to be on the student council and Taeil had been the student council president. Taeyong had met Jungwoo, then, too, three years younger than him and preparing to enter middle school next year. Taeyong had graduated middle school that year and moved on to high school, where Taeil once more became a fixture in his life through multiple clubs they both took part in. Through Taeil and Doyoung and Jaehyun, who had both become friends with Jungwoo, Taeyong himself had grown closer to the younger. With the brothers came Jisung, although the shy little boy hadn't opened up to him for a while after their introduction, not like Jeno and Jaemin had.

Shaken out of his thoughts at the sound of a bell, Taeyong realised he had made it to the cafe without any thought. They'd been coming here for nearly five years now, after all. He could get here in his sleep.

"Hyung!"

He looked over at the sound. Mark was tucked into the corner of the bench seat that lined the longest wall of the cafe. He made his way over, noting the number of bags stuffed under the tables that had been pushed together around the younger. A glance around the cafe showed Johnny and Yuta in the queue and as Taeyong stopped at the table, Jisung, Chenle and Renjun appeared from the direction of the bathrooms.

"Hey, babies." He greeted with a fond smile as the youngest three squeezed themselves in next to Mark. He ruffled Chenle's messy hair and stole a chair to pull up to the other side of the table. "How was school today?"

He got four very different faces pulled back at him, although they all displayed the same amount of exhaustion. Jisung was preparing for his high school entrance exams and Mark for his college entrance exams and he knew both of them felt ready to give up. Chenle and Renjun didn't have that massive exam in their near-future, but school was stressful no matter where they were in the curriculum.

"How's university going for you, hyung?" Renjun shot back. Taeyong conceded the point with a grin.

"Alright, kiddos." Johnny interrupted before anyone else could say anything, dropping a tray on the table in front of Chenle. The drinks sloshed in their cups, but only one of them spilt. Yuta followed behind with his own tray, which he dropped on the table before turning around to go back to the counter and grab a third tray. It was only then that he scooted onto the bench next to Chenle. Johnny took a seat next to Taeyong.

"Who else is coming?" Taeyong asked, looking at the array of drinks.

"Doyoung, obviously." Yuta said, already lifting a giant coffee cup to his lips. The bags under his eyes were a good indication of just how much he needed the caffeine.

"Jungwoo and Lucas will be here soon." Johnny continued, picking up an elaborate looking drink. "And Jaehyun said he, Jaemin and YangYang won't be long. Don't know if anyone else can make it, so they can get their own drinks if they do." He took a decisive sip.

Taeyong nodded, finally having found his usual order amongst the many cups. The four kids had grabbed random cups of hot chocolate, banned from coffee after three in the afternoon - apart from Jisung, who wasn't allowed coffee until he entered high school.

"Do they know Lucas is coming?" He commented wryly. Lucas was a major source of chaos any day and the main reason they'd been kicked out of so many restaurants that past couple of years - although he was pretty good at charming his way back in.

"Oh yeah." Yuta nodded. "He's the only one that drinks that."

Taeyong looked at the dubious-looking drink that Yuta had nodded too. It was true - Lucas claimed it was a big thing back home, but Taeyong was pretty sure it was something he had made up and just liked to trick them into thinking it was something everyone drank. Jungwoo had nearly been sick the first - and only - time he had tried it.

"Hey hyung?"

He looked over at Mark, who had leant over the table a bit to get his attention.

"Is everything alright, Mark?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"Yeah, hyung, I was just was wondering if you'd help me with my Korean Literature assignment." Mark's eyes were shining hopefully.

"Of course I can." Taeyong smiled. "When's it due? Are you free this weekend?"

"Yeah, that'd be great hyung, thanks. I've got almost two weeks before its due, so this weekend's good." Mark beamed. Taeyong wished he was close enough that he could ruffle the younger's hair. Johnny had transferred to their high school in their second year and with him came Mark, four years younger and entering his second year of middle school, who had quickly fit in amongst the group of friends - almost quicker than Johnny, actually, which Taeyong liked to recall and laugh at.

"Are you caught up with everything else? Do you need help with any other subjects?" Taeyong checked.

"I'm alright, hyung. Jungwoo-hyung is helping me with my maths tomorrow."

"Okay. Let me know if you need help with anything else." Taeyong turned to the other three. "Same goes for you three. Are you all caught up on your assignments and studying?" He got a mix of nods and shrugs. "Okay, make sure to let me know if you need help with anything."

"Thanks hyung." They all chorused.

"Yeah, definitely ask Taeyong." Yuta chimed in.

"Unless you want to fail, in which case I am your guy." Johnny jabbed a thumb at himself comically.

"Johnny." Taeyong groaned.

"Gee, thanks hyung. I'll keep that in mind." Renjun muttered sarcastically.

Johnny gasped dramatically, starting a tirade that Taeyong didn't bother to listen to. He settled back in his chair, cradling his cup of coffee as Renjun and Mark argued back against the older. Yuta, Chenle and Jisung were scrunched close together, the youngest two giggling at something Yuta was saying. It wasn't long until the bell above the door jingled and the noise level increased significantly, signalling Lucas's arrival. Jungwoo and Doyoung trailed in behind him, Doyoung looking embarrassed.

Taeyong smiled as they settled around the table. It was nice to see so many of them again, especially the kids that he saw less often. As he watched Jungwoo try and squish himself as close to Yuta as possible, he decided they'd have to organise a get together with all of them soon. It had been awhile.


	2. Through another pair of eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jungkook has been friends with Jaehyun for a while now, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to keep track of how many friends the other had outside of their same-age-group. Meeting three of them doesn’t really help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first of many outsider pov chapters. These are outside perspectives on the friendship group; starting with Jungkook’s (from BTS) pov on Jaehyun and his friends. This is set near the beginning of the year, although hopefully that is obvious in the chapter.   
> Also, this has not been edited - I’ve just skimmed over it for anything major.   
> Hope you enjoy, please let me know what you thought :)

Jungkook had met Jaehyun his first week of university. He had moved into the dorms from his hometown of Busan and knew nothing about the area. Jaehyun had been one of the university volunteers that helped people new to the city find their way around. Jungkook was particularly glad it had been Jaehyun - he knew some freshman who had been assigned older volunteers that mainly abandoned them. Jaehyun had been just as open to making friends as Jungkook, despite already knowing a plethora of people.

That had been an eye-opener. Jungkook had had his fair share of friends in high school, but Jaehyun took it to another level and he had been surprised that Jaehyun's friendships had carried over to university. It had taken Jungkook nearly a year to figure out that Jaehyun did not, in fact, have about nine younger brothers - just a lot of younger friends. He also had older friends, which had introduced Jungkook to the dance society and a whole new group of people.

Now, a couple of weeks into his second year of university, Jungkook was immensely grateful for Jaehyun and their group of friends. He had his close friend group in the hyungs he had met last year, but his age-mates provided a different kind of comfort in this still-unfamiliar city and, in some ways, a more relaxed atmosphere. They were all at the university cafe, taking advantage of the later hour to pull together a couple of tables and spread out a bit.

"How did you even get back?" Mingyu asked incredulously. Yugyeom and Bambam shared a look before shrugging, still laughing at the memory of loosing their plane ticket back to South Korea, from where Yugyeom had flown out to Thailand over the holidays to explore Bambam's home country with him. Jungkook was surprised they'd survived, to be honest; the two were definitely crazy.

"What did you get up to over the holidays?" Seokmin asked over the bickering that broke out between the three. Minghao looked up from where he was texting, glancing at Jungkook and Jaehyun to answer before looking back at his phone. Jungkook huffed a laugh.

"Not much. My family went to Jeju Island for a weekend." Jungkook told little details of his holidays. It wasn't very interesting, and after hearing Yugyeom and Bambam's stories he wished he'd done more. "What about you, Jaehyun? Did you have a good break?"

Jaehyun had been steadily making his way through a very large muffin, making interested noises at Jungkook's story. Now he looked up properly, crumbs stuck to the side of his mouth.

"Ah, you've got - " Jungkook gestured to his own mouth.

"Oh." Jaehyun wiped the back of his hand over his face, looking back at Jungkook after for confirmation he'd gotten it all. Jungkook nodded. "My break was pretty good - we rented a house for a week up north, it was great to just get away from the city for a bit."

"How many of you went?" Seokmin asked with a raised eyebrow. He and Jaehyun had gone to high school together and Seokmin knew better than Jungkook just how many people Jaehyun was close friends with.

"Uhh - " Jaehyun's eyebrows furrowed, having to think about it. Jungkook resisted the urge to laugh. "There were twenty-one of us - yeah, it was before Shotaro and Sungchan moved in."

"There are two more of you?" Minghao piped up, causing the three of them to jump.

"Yeah, Shotaro is Yuta-hyung's little brother, his parents are moving for their job and he preferred to move here with Yuta- hyung than potentially keep moving about. And Sungchan - Doyoung-hyung and Jeno's cousin - started high school this year and moved in with them since they live so much closer." Jaehyun explained with a smile.

Jungkook blinked - he could just about remember all of his friends, Jaehyun's just confused him more. It was worse when they were all talking about their friends and between Jaehyun's and Seokmin, Mingyu and Minghao's friendship groups, Jungkook usually had to give up keeping track.

"How did you all fit in one house?" He asked, trying to imagine them all piling on top of each other.

"Well, there were, like, five bedrooms, so most of us fit in those, but the kids made, like, a nest on the floor of the living room that they slept on so that took care of at least five people."

Jungkook still didn't want to imagine sixteen people piling into five bedrooms - it sounded more than claustrophobic.

"Did you just mess around for a week then?" Seokmin asked with a laugh. He had to lean away from where Bambam and Mingyu were - very noisily - shoving each other as they bickered.

Jaehyun shrugged.

"We played a lot of games and just - hung out. We rarely get the chance for all of us to get together." He explained.

"Well, yeah. There's tons of you." Jungkook deadpanned. Jaehyun rolled his eyes at him.

"What about you, Seokmin? Did you go anywhere?" Jaehyun turned to Seokmin.

Seokmin launched into a very dramatic re-telling of his holidays - plural, since he went on one with his family and one with his friends. Both were apparently dramatic, although in different ways. By the time he was halfway through, he had the six of them in stitches, managing to break into Yugyeom, Bambam and Mingyu's bickering.

"Hyung!" Rang through the cafe, all of their heads snapping to the door, even though nearly half of their group were rarely, if ever, called 'hyung'. Jungkook vaguely recognised the three boys in the doorway - one of them was their age and had been introduced to them multiple times, although he rarely hung out with them. The other two boys were younger - both small and baby-faced.

"What are you two doing here?" Jaehyun asked, rising from his seat. Jungkook wondered if one of them was his younger brother - he knew Jaehyun had one. "Is everything alright?"

"They've got a club project." The older boy - Sicheng, Jungkook was about 95% sure - said quietly. "I took them around the library, since they said the high school one didn't have what they needed."

"Ahh, I see." Jaehyun hummed. He'd joined the other three and reached out both hands to ruffle the younger boy's on the head. They both ducked away, whining. "And what are you doing here?"

"We need you to drive us home." One of the boys said. "Ge said he would buy us a hot chocolate as we wait."

"Oh, I'm taking you home am I?" Jaehyun asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, Jaehyun." Sicheng winced apologetically. "Taeil-hyung dropped us off, but he has a night shift."

"Its fine, Sichengie. Don't worry about it." Jaehyun smiled.

"Alright, come on. Go chose what you want." Sicheng ushered the two young boys over to the counter. He'd obviously gotten tired of the boys' shuffling as they waited.

"Do you mind if they sit with us?" Jaehyun had sidled back up to their table and was asking lowly. They all shook their heads - they couldn't stay for much longer anyway; they all had different plans this evening. It wasn't long before Jaehyun was ushering the three new people to the table. "This is Sicheng" Ah, Jungkook had been right about the older boys name. "Renjun" was the small boy with dark hair. "And Jisung." The last boy had slightly lighter hair and a baby face.

"Hi, I'm Seokmin." The cheery boy leant forward to face them directly, waving. They went around the table introducing themselves, smiling at the boys.

Conversation kept up a little bit, a lot quieter now that they had little company.

"How old are you two? Are you in high school?" Yugyeom asked, leaning over the table so he could be seen around Mingyu and Jaehyun, who separated him from the kids.

"Um, I'm in high school, in eleventh grade." Renjun answered. "Jisung's still in middle school, in 9th grade."

"But you're doing a club project together?" Mingyu asked, confused.

"Ahh, the middle and high school share a lot of clubs." Seokmin explained. "They're both pretty small and its a good way to encourage students to continue on to high school."

"Ahh, right." Mingyu muttered. Like Jungkook, Mingyu had moved to the city for university. They were the only ones, though; Minghao had been an exchange student to the local high school in his last year, and had stayed on for university. Bambam had also been an exchange student, although he'd started his first year of high school and stayed on in the program throughout. Seokmin, Yugyeom and Jaehyun had been part of the connected local schooling system since at least middle school. "Which club is it?

"The astronomy club." Renjun puffed up proudly. They all smiled at the cuteness. "We're doing a project on the possibility of extraterrestrial life on Mars."

"Oh wow." Bambam's eyes widened. "That's so interesting. I wish there had been an astronomy club when I was in high school."

Renjun narrowed his eyes at the Thai man, obviously wondering if he was being patronising.

"I started it last year - I was shocked there wasn't already a similar club." He eventually answered.

Jungkook had to hide a smile at how grown-up the teenager was trying to sound; it was obviously part of the speech he'd used to convince the student council and supervising teachers to let him start up the club.

"Did you find everything you needed in the library?" Jaehyun asked.

"Yeah." Renjun nodded. "There was a brilliant selection of textbooks on the chemical composition of Mars' atmosphere. And we found some studies done on the possibility of life existing on other planets." He smiled happily.

"Remember its all checked out on my name." Sicheng interjected quietly. "Please remember to return them."

"Yes, Sicheng-ge." The two boys chorused, rolling their eyes.

"Are you two working on the project tonight?" Jaehyun asked.

They shook their heads.

"Grandma's last draft was accepted by the editors, so we're going out for dinner tonight to celebrate." Renjun explained.

"Ahh, that's good." Jaehyun murmured. "What about you, Jisung? You said Taeil-hyung had a night shift?"

"Yeah." Jisung responded quietly, hunching his shoulders. Sicheng shifted slightly, wrapping his arm around the younger's shoulders. "Jungwoo-hyung's going out with some friends tonight so, um, hyung, can I stay at yours tonight?" The younger widened his eyes slightly, pouting.

"Ahh, Jisungie, you know you're always welcome." Jaehyun reached around Sicheng to ruffle Jisung's hair. "Jaemin's been missing you, too."

"I saw him the day before yesterday." Jisung grumbled, pulling a face. They all laughed - the younger really was too cute.

"Does Jungwoo know you won't be at home?" Jaehyun checked. Jungkook found this side to his friend weird; Jaehyun definitely wasn't the most irresponsible member of their friendship group, but he was just as much a wild university student as the rest of them. Seeing him act like a responsible hyung was a change, although Jungkook thought it suited him.

"Yeah, I told him I'd sleep over someone's house." Jisung shrugged.

"And you didn't even know where." Renjun sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head.

"You've got so many hyungs you'll be able to find somewhere to go, huh, Jisung?" Seokmin teased gently.

Jisung blushed at the new attention.

"Oh, um, yeah." He mumbled, leaning further into Sicheng and trying to hide his face without looking like that was what he was doing.

"Taeyong-hyung would welcome you with open arms." Sicheng said dryly.

Jungkook could imagine that - the dance president that had been chosen after Hoseok-hyung graduated last year was a welcoming, almost motherly sort of man. Jungkook only knew him through dance, and although he would call them friends they weren't close, but he couldn't imagine Taeyong turning away anyone. Especially someone like Jisung.

"Do you know Taeyong-hyung well?" He couldn't resist asking. Jisung looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I - I guess?" The younger stuttered.

"Don't let hyung hear you say that." Jaehyun snorted. "When he's in a particular mood, he likes to say he raised Jisung."

"Only when Taeil-hyung's not around though." Renjun interjected with a giggle.

"I don't think I would have survived if Taeyong-hyung wasn't around." Jisung admitted. "Taeil-hyung just doesn't want to accept that."

They all laughed at the dry comment, although Jungkook was a bit confused.

"I don't think any of us would have survived this long if not for Taeyong-hyung." Jaehyun laughed.

"Ten definitely wouldn't have."

Jaehyun barked at Sicheng's dry interjection.

Jungkook also knew Ten from dance. The little he'd talked to the older student, he understood what Sicheng meant - Ten was definitely the wildest of Jaehyun's friends that Jungkook knew.

Their chatter continued for a while longer, circling back round to funny - but kid-friendly - stories from their winter breaks. They were interrupted from their giggling by a phone going off and Yugyeom swearing, although he was quickly cut off by a hit over the head and two people aiming kicks at him, with pointed looks at the middle-schooler.

"Sorry, sorry." Yugyeom said, already scrambling from his seat. "Bam, we've gotta go. Jinyoung-hyungs gonna kill us, we're already late."

Bambam made a noise Jungkook didn't think was humanly possible, already on his feet and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Why in such a rush? You don't usually care about annoying your hyungs." Mingyu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, except we put pink dye in his shampoo last week and he's waiting to get back at us. We can't give him anything else to get annoyed at us with or he really will kill us." Yugyeom rushed out. "Sorry guys, really gotta go. I'll see you later." He waved over his shoulder, already halfway out the door.

"Nice to meet you kiddos. See ya." Bambam - obviously more willing to test Jinyoung's patience - stopped to ruffle the kids' hair, nodding goodbye to the rest of them before following Yugyeom.

It didn't take long for the rest of them to decide it was time to leave, too. Jungkook was meeting Jimin and Taehyung for an evening messing about in one of the dance practice rooms they'd managed to reserve; he had about twenty minutes before they would be let in the room, but that just meant he could stop by the little shop on campus and grab some snacks. Mingyu and Minghao were meeting some other friends for dinner and karaoke and Seokmin had an evening seminar to attend.

"Alright babies, lets go." Jaehyun stood up, stretching his arms out in front of him with a groan.

"We're not babies." Jisung grumbled to disgruntled nodding from Renjun. Sicheng rolled his eyes at Jaehyun even as he listened and stood up.

"Yeah, yeah, Jisungie, sure. You're not a baby." Jaehyun agreed sarcastically. Jisung huffed. "Come on, we'll pick up some chicken on the way home."

This mollified Jisung, whose pout turned into a happy little smile. Renjun groaned jealously, starting to complain about how the fancy restaurant he was going to tonight probably didn't do anything even remotely resembling pizza, which was what he fancied.

He was still complaining to a nodding Sicheng when Jaehyun ushered them out the door, an arm wrapped around Jisung's shoulders.

"See you soon." Jaehyun waves before he disappears.

Jungkook leaves next, leaving Minghao, Mingyu and Seokmin to finish their drinks. He wanders out of the cafe and over to the shop, feeling light. It had been a good afternoon - he had enjoyed meeting with his friends properly for the first time since getting back from winter break and it was always cute meeting Jaehyun's dongsaengs. These two had been particularly cute - Jungkook had met a different dongsaeng a couple of months ago, running into Jaehyun and his tag-along at a cafe, and he had been a motor-mouth hell-raiser, which Jungkook had managed to discover in the five minutes they'd been in each other's presence. He would be surprised if that cafe ever let Jaehyun and his friend back.

His happy thoughts occupied him until he was stood outside the practice room, where Taehyung was leant against the wall waiting for the people in it to leave.

"You look happy Kookie." Taehyung observed with a smile. "Have a good time with your friends?"

"Yeah, hyung. Yeah, I did."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it, I‘d love to hear what you thought! :)  
> Also, if there is anything you’d like to see in this AU, please do let me know. I love getting ideas from everyone, it really does make it easier to write.


End file.
